Helmets are necessary in many circumstances, including but not limited to when work is performed by men and women of the military. In military applications, helmets have long been used to protect a user's head, and ideally the greatest percentage of the surface area of a user's head would be protected with the most effective protection available. However, protecting against particularly difficult threats requires a helmet to be made in such a way that it weighs more for each square inch of coverage that it provides, and protecting a greater percentage of the user's head requires more square inches of helmet. Both of these strategies for increased protection lead to an increase in the overall weight of the helmet. In addition, there have been increased demands for military personnel to carry devices that are designed to be mounted to their helmets, e.g., devices that impart enhanced vision capabilities. Satisfying this demand has created two sources of neck fatigue and strain: (1) discomfort due to off-center loads that tilt the helmet off its axis; and (2) discomfort due to overall headgear weight.
In order to address off-center loads, various counterbalance options have surfaced. For example, many solutions use battery packs, ammunition magazines, or communication equipment on the back of the helmet to counterbalance devices mounted to the front of the helmet. Unfortunately, these solutions add a significant amount of weight to the helmet beyond the primary device (e.g., night vision goggles), as well as stress to the neck in order to counteract the weight of the primary device and to recreate the original center of mass. Furthermore, they often render the helmet uncomfortable to wear. Thus, by addressing the first problem, these devices exacerbate the second problem.
Alternatively, some soldiers choose to cope with off-balanced helmets by adjusting the helmets with their hands as needed. Although this solution can address the issue of the helmet being off balance, it restricts the ability of soldiers to use their hands and thus can prevent them from being combat ready.
Additionally, helmets themselves, regardless of whether they are used by military personnel or are associated with devices, can, because of their weight, add a great deal of stress to the neck, and contribute to long term medical problems for users. Work has been done in the past to develop devices intended to reduce the strain on the neck from head borne weight and shock. See e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,825,476; 4,954,815; 5,267,708; 5,272,422; 5,295,271; 5,353,437; 5,444,870; 5,581,816; 6,006,368; 6,434,756; and 6,591,430. Unfortunately, these known technologies have only provided to a limited degree, satisfactory solutions, each having shortcomings in one or more of the areas of comfort, range of motion, weight tolerance and/or practicality.
Therefore, there is a need to provide devices that address the aforementioned problems with head borne equipment. The present invention is directed to this need.